Restaurant in Toulouse, France
Michelin-recognised modern cooking at bistro prices.
Les Sales Gosses holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 and scores 4.8 from nearly 2,000 Google reviews — all at €€ pricing on central Rue Pierre-Paul Riquet. For serious modern cooking in Toulouse without the cost of a starred room, it is the value case to beat. Book a week ahead for weekend evenings; midweek is more available.
The misconception worth clearing up first: Les Sales Gosses does not feel like a casual neighbourhood bistro despite its playful name (roughly translated: "The Naughty Kids"). This is a seriously cooked modern cuisine address on Rue Pierre-Paul Riquet that has held a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025. If you have been saving it for a "next time" trip to Toulouse because it sounds low-key, stop waiting — at €€ pricing with Michelin recognition, the value case is clear. Book it now and treat it as your anchor dinner for the visit.
Les Sales Gosses sits on Rue Pierre-Paul Riquet, one of Toulouse's better-connected central streets, and the address alone signals something worth investigating. The Michelin Plate , awarded for two consecutive years , is not a star, but it is a meaningful credential: it means the Michelin inspectors consider the cooking good enough to single out among the broader Toulouse field, without the formality or the price inflation that typically surrounds a full star. For explorers who want serious food without a four-figure tasting menu or a dress-code anxiety spiral, that positioning is almost exactly right.
The kitchen operates in modern cuisine territory, which in France typically means seasonal produce treated with technique that borrows from classical foundations but does not feel museum-bound. Without specific menu data available at time of writing, the responsible call is to check current offerings directly with the restaurant , menus at this level change with the season, and autumn in Toulouse means the southwest's larder is fully open: duck, foie gras, truffles from the Périgord, and Pyrenean cheeses are all reasonable expectations based on regional cooking traditions. What the Michelin Plate does confirm is that whatever comes out of the kitchen is being executed with consistency and craft.
On the drinks side, a modern cuisine restaurant at this price and recognition level in a French regional city will typically carry a wine list built around regional appellations first. Gaillac, Fronton, and Cahors are the local southwest benchmarks; expect the list to anchor there before reaching north toward Bordeaux or Burgundy. For food-and-wine pairing, this is actually a strength , these are not famous appellations, which keeps prices lower than the cooking quality might suggest in a Paris context. If the drinks program matters to you as much as the food, this is a room where you can drink interesting bottles at rational prices. That is a harder thing to find in this category than it should be.
Google Reviews sit at 4.8 from 1,821 ratings , a high score across a large sample. That volume matters: a 4.8 from 40 reviews is noise; a 4.8 from nearly 2,000 suggests genuine and consistent execution rather than an opening-month surge. For comparison, many Michelin-starred restaurants in France operate with far fewer public reviews and therefore less legible track records. Les Sales Gosses is, on the available evidence, a restaurant that repeatedly delivers on expectations.
If you are building a Toulouse dining itinerary across multiple nights, Les Sales Gosses handles the "serious modern cooking at a sensible price" slot. For reference points elsewhere in France , not because the cooking is comparable in scale, but to give you a calibration of what Michelin recognition means in regional contexts , properties like Bras in Laguiole and Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern show what sustained regional commitment to the craft looks like at higher tiers. Les Sales Gosses is operating at a different level, but the direction of travel , quality-serious, regionally grounded, accessible pricing , is recognisably the same impulse. Within Toulouse itself, you can round out a multi-night visit with Agapes, SEPT, or the more relaxed Chez Loustic. See our full Toulouse restaurants guide for the complete picture, and if you are planning the broader trip, our Toulouse hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide cover the rest.
Booking difficulty is rated Easy. A Michelin Plate restaurant at €€ pricing in Toulouse is not pulling the same reservation pressure as a starred room in Paris or Lyon , you are unlikely to need to plan weeks out in normal circumstances, though weekend evenings during peak season (spring and autumn in southwest France) fill faster. Contact the restaurant directly to confirm current availability and hours; no online booking link is currently listed in the Pearl database. Given the high review volume and consistent recognition, do not leave booking until the day before a weekend visit.
Quick reference: Michelin Plate (2024, 2025) · €€ · Modern Cuisine · 81 Rue Pierre-Paul Riquet, Toulouse · Booking: Easy · Contact restaurant directly.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Les Sales Gosses | Modern Cuisine | €€ | Easy |
| Michel Sarran | French, Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Py-r | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Acte 2 Yannick Delpech | Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Unknown |
| Chez Loustic | Modern Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
| L'Air de Famille | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
What to weigh when choosing between Les Sales Gosses and alternatives.
Group-specific capacity details are not in the available data. For parties of 6 or more, call ahead directly rather than assuming availability. At a Michelin Plate address at €€ pricing, larger groups often need to give more notice even when bookings are otherwise easy to secure.
Bar seating details are not confirmed in the available data. check the venue's official channels on Rue Pierre-Paul Riquet to ask — given the easy booking difficulty and €€ price point, the full dining room is accessible enough that bar seating is not a prerequisite for a good experience.
The name translates loosely as 'the little rascals,' which signals the register: this is not a white-tablecloth formal room. Two consecutive Michelin Plate awards at a €€ price point place it in the smart-casual zone — presentable but not suited-up. Avoid beachwear, but there is no indication of a dress code beyond that.
For a step up in formality and price, Michel Sarran is Toulouse's most prominent fine-dining address. Py-r and Acte 2 Yannick Delpech sit in a similar serious-cooking register with higher price points. If you want something more relaxed and neighbourhood-oriented, L'Air de Famille or Chez Loustic are worth considering before committing to Les Sales Gosses.
Yes, in practical terms. A €€ modern-cuisine restaurant with easy booking difficulty is a low-friction solo option compared to Toulouse's pricier tasting-menu rooms. Counter or bar seating availability is not confirmed in the data, but solo diners at this price point rarely face pushback on a small table booking.
Specific menu details are not available here, so check current offerings directly with the restaurant. What the Michelin Plate recognition two years running (2024 and 2025) does confirm is that the kitchen is operating at a level above casual bistro cooking. At €€ pricing, a set lunch menu, if offered, is typically the sharpest value play at Plate-level restaurants.
A few days to a week out is usually sufficient. A Michelin Plate restaurant at €€ pricing in Toulouse does not carry the reservation pressure of a starred room, so last-minute bookings are often possible mid-week. Friday and Saturday evenings are the exception — book those 7–10 days ahead to be safe.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
